This weekly roundup thread is intended for all culture war posts. 'Culture war' is vaguely defined, but it basically means controversial issues that fall along set tribal lines. Arguments over culture war issues generate a lot of heat and little light, and few deeply entrenched people ever change their minds. This thread is for voicing opinions and analyzing the state of the discussion while trying to optimize for light over heat.
Optimistically, we think that engaging with people you disagree with is worth your time, and so is being nice! Pessimistically, there are many dynamics that can lead discussions on Culture War topics to become unproductive. There's a human tendency to divide along tribal lines, praising your ingroup and vilifying your outgroup - and if you think you find it easy to criticize your ingroup, then it may be that your outgroup is not who you think it is. Extremists with opposing positions can feed off each other, highlighting each other's worst points to justify their own angry rhetoric, which becomes in turn a new example of bad behavior for the other side to highlight.
We would like to avoid these negative dynamics. Accordingly, we ask that you do not use this thread for waging the Culture War. Examples of waging the Culture War:
-
Shaming.
-
Attempting to 'build consensus' or enforce ideological conformity.
-
Making sweeping generalizations to vilify a group you dislike.
-
Recruiting for a cause.
-
Posting links that could be summarized as 'Boo outgroup!' Basically, if your content is 'Can you believe what Those People did this week?' then you should either refrain from posting, or do some very patient work to contextualize and/or steel-man the relevant viewpoint.
In general, you should argue to understand, not to win. This thread is not territory to be claimed by one group or another; indeed, the aim is to have many different viewpoints represented here. Thus, we also ask that you follow some guidelines:
-
Speak plainly. Avoid sarcasm and mockery. When disagreeing with someone, state your objections explicitly.
-
Be as precise and charitable as you can. Don't paraphrase unflatteringly.
-
Don't imply that someone said something they did not say, even if you think it follows from what they said.
-
Write like everyone is reading and you want them to be included in the discussion.
On an ad hoc basis, the mods will try to compile a list of the best posts/comments from the previous week, posted in Quality Contribution threads and archived at /r/TheThread. You may nominate a comment for this list by clicking on 'report' at the bottom of the post and typing 'Actually a quality contribution' as the report reason.
Jump in the discussion.
No email address required.
Notes -
I'm just commenting on the apparent inbuilt contradiction of humans needing to undergo painful, mildly damaging experiences to become more healthy. Your health does not rely on avoiding all harms and living a life of absolute comfort. It relies on actively struggling to a particular degree.
This probably applies on the psychological level too. Undergo TOO MUCH mental stress, and you get trauma, which is bad. Undergo and overcome the mental stress, and you get stronger.
I'm asserting that we're removing the mild challenges that would serve to mentally strengthen people as they grow up, and so when the finally encounter actual challenges they are mentally unprepared, and tend to fold or shy away.
They ARE better, if the new cells are imperfect copies of the old cells. In the worst case the new cells have mutations that make them cancerous, eventually killing the organism when the 'new' cells replicate too rapidly.
So in order to have healthy new cells, you need to make accurate copies of old cells (or, at least, the DNA used to construct them).
Sirtuins are what do the error-checking and DNA repair to make sure that the DNA being replicated is well-maintained and accurate, so that fewer errors accumulate over time.
IN THEORY, if you could ensure that every single copy of a cell contains a 100% pristine copies of the previous cells' DNA, your organs could keep functioning indefinitely, showing few if any signs of aging.
https://www.orentreich.org/new-study-supports-the-information-theory-of-aging-and-its-potential-to-combat-aging/
The irony is that the mechanism for DNA repair is activated by conditions that mimic adversity and scarcity.
More options
Context Copy link